A marketer’s guidebook
It’s not a unique viewpoint to say that video is the language of the modern age. And this statement is no less true in the SaaS marketing space.
Video is vital in all aspects of the SaaS marketing funnel. It plugs in the gaps all the way from prospect education and brand awareness to lead generation, customer acquisition and engagement.
To gain a competitive edge in your vertical, it’s likely essential that you have a strong video marketing strategy for all stages of the customer journey.
Luckily, this guide will help break this down and do the hard work for you.
We explain everything from what video marketing is, to it’s place in the SaaS industry, ways to leverage it at every stage of the funnel and our top tips for video success. We’ll also provide some examples of phenomenal SaaS videos to inspire you.
Keep this handy resource close by, and you’ll never miss an opportunity to ramp up ROI for your business with video.
What is video marketing?
Video marketing is simply, the practice of using video to promote your brand or product to your target audience.
Brands utilise video marketing across various channels and mediums. This includes everything from ad platforms like Youtube, LinkedIn and Google Ads to website pages, emails, newsletters and organic social posts.
Most companies also harness a variety of different video formats and approaches depending on their objectives e.g. brand awareness, lead generation, customer acquisition and customer engagement.
In 2023, it’s difficult to find a brand that isn’t dipping their toe in video in some way, shape or form.
What is the place of video in a SaaS marketing strategy?
If you want your SaaS marketing strategy to be as impactful as possible, you need to harness the power of video. It’s unavoidable.
Thriving SaaS companies all over the globe are investing in everything from SaaS mission videos and SaaS explainer videos to SaaS promo videos, SaaS brand videos and SaaS lead generation videos.
To compete in this space, you need skin in the game. But you might be wondering, what does this look like exactly?
Video at every stage of the SaaS marketing funnel
Unless your company is opting for a super lean go-to-market strategy and simply doesn’t have the funds, you should be aiming to create at least one video for each stage of the funnel.
If you need a refresh of the funnel stages are, check out our SaaS content marketing funnel infographic.
If you don’t, let’s run through the types of video we think you should be utilising at each stage.
TOFU
For Top-Funnel marketing, you ideally want to create a short, snackable and memorable brand video. Ideally, something that encapsulates the essence of your brand, connects with your target audience and uses the human quality of video to attach a face to your company. Between 15-30 seconds is preferrable.
Another avenue is to create an educational video that teaches your prospects about a topic that they’re interested in. Or provides general insights on a pain point that they’re facing. If this is the angle you’re going for, focus more on establishing your brand as a trusted thought leader rather than the answer to all their problems.
MOFU
For Mid-Funnel marketing, you’ll want to focus more heavily on problem-solving with your videos. However, out of all the funnel stages, this one is probably the most vague when it comes to what exactly you should create. As there’s no one, singular best practice, it also means there’s lots of room to experiment.
The key is to try out a few different approaches and see what works. For example, you could build a video to promote a mid-funnel content piece you are running on LinkedIn, providing a teaser of a few key concepts that are extrapolated on in it.
Alternatively, you could explain how to solve a pain point in a slightly longer video (weaving in your solution as one potential option).
Your goal ultimately, is to position your brand as an authority and thought leader in the space, whilst subtly interweaving your SaaS product as a possible answer to their problems.
BOFU
For Bottom-Funnel marketing, things get a little more clearcut. SaaS explainer videos, comparison videos and case study videos are all great candidates here.
At this stage, the main thing you want to keep in mind is that you’re trying to convince prospects that your brand is the one they should trust to solve all their problems. Therefore, any emphasis on trust-building and compelling proof points is what you should be aiming for.
You can push for videos that are a little longer at this stage (up to 2 mins) and provide as much info as you think necessary to push a prospect over the line to customer.
The SaaS explainer video
The SaaS explainer video is getting a separate section here by nature of the fact that it’s become so popular for SaaS businesses in the last few years, and it for good reason. It works.
SaaS videos are simple by nature – devised for the sole function of explaining what your product does in a succinct, visual and engaging way.
Because they get to the point and allow prospects to put themselves in the shoes of a platform user easily, they can be highly effective in convincing people that they could benefit from your product.
It’s one thing to hear someone who works for a company spouting positive things about that company, and it’s another to see the benefits in action.
If you invest in one aspect of video marketing for your SaaS business, we recommend starting with a SaaS explainer video.
SaaS video tips that slay
SaaS videos may be golden if done well, but you must ensure you’re bringing enough to the table. A poorly scripted or low-quality video with no guiding concept is unlikely to get you the results your after.
Our tips can help you ensure you’re nailing video from every angle.
1. Find alignment with your funnel stage
As with all content types, you need to make sure the video you are producing ALIGNS with the funnel stage it’s being created for. Ask yourself – “Will this video be used at the top, middle or bottom funnel?” Then ask, “What is the objective?”
Once you’ve answered these questions, your in a much better place can to start strategising your approach.
For example, if you’re wanting to create a video for top-funnel activity on LinkedIn and the objective is brand awareness – you want to be creating a brand video that’s short, snappy and compelling.
Your focus should be less conversion-focused (driving to a specific offer), and more focused on educating and connecting with your audience, and encouraging them to engage with your brand.
If you approach every video you create from a funnel stage perspective, your most likely to achieve the results you need out of it.
2. Work in your logo and branding (with subtlety)
One of the key elements of successful SaaS videos is a tactical thread of branding signals throughout the piece. Note – you want to subtle with this tip and avoid crossing over into pushy or salesman-like territory.
Try weaving in your company logo, brand colour scheme and imagery throughout the video in a light, subtle way. This can be a great way of creating brand recognition and authority without provoking a sense of overwhelm.
You want to avoid more obvious forms of promotion that turn people off for this reason e.g. mentioning your brand name in every sentence or having blown up logos or brand signifiers that are distracting or off-putting.
3. Highlight your value proposition
Your value prop should be front and center in any video you produce. Why are you creating this video? What is the purpose? Why should your target audience care? This should be immediately clear within the first few seconds.
Particularly if you’re creating a SaaS explainer video. The whole way through you should be showing prospects why your solution is better than the other options on the market.
The last thing you want is to spend hours and hours building video content just for people to miss the point of it, or be unaffected by it.
4. Focus on simplicity
The last thing you videos should be is over-engineered or complex. You want to act on a simple concept, clear offer and symbiosis between any visual and auditory elements. The absolute worst result would be for your audience taken-aback, confused or puzzled by your video. Stick to simplicity and you can’t go wrong.
5. Integrate humour (if appropriate)
If your brand guidelines give you more flexibility to have fun with your approach, we’d recommend sprinkling in a bit of humour to your videos. Some of the best videos, particularly SaaS explainer videos, interweave any element of comedy to draw the viewer in.
When you’re working with software, things can be pretty dry sometimes, so why not liven it up a bit by making space for a few laughs?
SaaS video examples
Now that we’ve covered A,B, and Cs of SaaS videos, including tips and best uses, it’s time to look at some exemplars of the format.
Do us a favour and refer to these A-class clips whenever you need to inspire and freshen up your video efforts and strategy.
1. Microsoft 365 Explainer Video
In our opinion, Microsoft has one of the best SaaS explainer videos out there for its product, Microsoft 365. Even though there is no voice-over (a typical element of the form), the visual component is so clear, seamless and explanatory that there is simply no need for one.
The effectiveness and ease of what is essentially a guided platform walk-through is artfully combined with the clean, elevated aesthetic of the Microsoft brand and littered with brand signifiers. The symbiosis between the two adds a layer of consistency, bolsters brand recognition and indirectly communicates the quality of the product.
This is truly one to marvel at – take note!
2. Grammarly’s “Bring Ideas to Life“
Ever been on Youtube? We’d be surprised if you haven’t seen Grammarly’s compelling promo videos more than once. The one we’ve highlighted below is a particularly great SaaS explainer video example.
Why? It ties in distinctly different use cases (people who’d use Canva from different walks of life) and combines this with the a guided platform walk through of specific features and how they are useful to these people.
Because of the way it’s crafted, different personas will be able to look at the same video and find themselves in it, along with features that will help make their life easier. This personal quality makes it one of the most compelling examples of an explainer video (in our opinion).
3. Canva’s Ray White Case Study Video
Canva are pros when it comes to all things marketing. Their use of bottom-funnel case study videos on their Youtube account are evidence of this.
The chosen video focuses on one of their client’s, Ray White, and neatly explains how Canva has helped them ensure brand consistency and efficiency across all their projects, including campaigns, social posts, and invitations.
As the Canva platform is design-focused, aesthetic choices in video are even more important than for other brands. They deliver in providing a clean, easy on the eye and engaging video that focus on output, impact and key stats.
We believe this is a great example of how you can use video as another touchpoint at the bottom of the funnel to encourage prospects to invest in your product.
4. Blackboard’s explainer video
Blackboard’s animated explainer video follows the OG framework. It’s animated, 2D and to the point. Like Grammarly, Blackboard talks straight to the target audience, addresses their pain points and cleverly highlights the features of the platform that are relevant to them.
This video may not be high-tech or cutting-edge necessarily, but it hits all the essential ingredients in a successful brand SaaS video.
5. Dropbox
Dropbox’s recent brand video, centered around the concept of “For All Things Worth Saving” works particularly off pulling on the heart strings of the audience. In a very obvious way.
It starts with an avatar, “Ben,” and uses him as entry point. Then it moves on to use his digital life to emphasise the irreplaceable quality of photos, memes, spreadsheets, folders as a launchpad and posit the value of Dropbox as a vehicle to save these artefacts.
The concept is consistent, the value prop is clear and compelling and the video production is seamless and intuitive.
Tap into the power of video for your SaaS company today
That’s a wrap! Everything you need to know about SaaS video is gifted in a singular, 2,000 word package and tied up with a neat little bow.
Now that you have all the wisdom and resources at your disposal, it’s time to get out there. Take this knowledge with you and leverage it properly.
If you do, you should continue to see an uplift in all your video statistics and feel confident in your ability to manipulate this form of media to smash your goals and hit your KPIs.
Wouldn’t mind a bit of guidance?
Need a bit of help building videos, deciding which ones to use, where or how to actually promote effectively them through your chosen channels?
Digital Rhinos have a long history of using video as a marketing tactic for SaaS companies to stand out and gain a competitive edge. If you’re curious to discuss a partnership, book in a quick 15 minute call and we can discuss how you can be using video more effectively today.
